Exploring the Relationship between Secularity and Marital Behavior

ABSTRACT

The higher religiosity of women is a longstanding feature of the religious landscape in the Western World. With the recent vibrancy of secular movements, the greater religiosity of women is reflected in a gender imbalance within the secular groups. For instance, more than three quarters of American atheists are male. Given the effects of both religiosity and secularity on worldview and lifestyle, this gender imbalance is likely consequential for marital behavior and outcomes. Using the latest cycle of the Canadian General Social Survey focused on family, this paper examines how marital behavior of individuals without any tie with religion or spirituality compares with others. Secular males are found appreciably more likely to experience marital dissolution, whereas their female counterparts are shown no different from others. This result lends support to the theories that posit religiosity as a complementary marital trait, requiring the mating of the like. The analysis also indicates that union formation behavior of secular females manifests a larger shift away from the traditional conceptions of marriage compared with secular males. Various explanations are explored.

KEYWORDS:

• cohabitation
• divorce
• gender
• religiosity
• secularity

Notes

This analysis excludes same-sex unions (119 observations), because the GSS-2011 does not allow for the classification of sexual orientation, except through the gender of current partner. Therefore, the data set is not informative about the individuals who were not in a relationship at the time of the interview, making the remaining observations unrepresentative.

The set of possible responses are (i) to have children/adopt; (ii) proof of love and commitment; (iii) living together was not socially acceptable; (iv) to make relationship official; (v) financial security; (vi) spouse wanted to; (vii) pressure from family and friends; (viii) cultural, moral/religious beliefs; (ix) other.